The challenge of adult formation in parishes

Abstract

Beyond the sacrament of confirmation, our Parishes offer little, if any, systematic formation that enables adults to mature in the Christian Faith. In an increasingly secular society that has become culturally de-Christianised, ongoing maturity in the faith is essential if adults are to take up the challenge and adopt their faith as a lifestyle in the Third Millennium. The scope of this dissertation has been motivated by this lacuna in our Parishes and the desire to address this situation by proposing concrete solutions in order to remedy this chronic state of affairs as far as adult formation is concerned. This is even more important today given the great responsibility, and indispensability, of the Laity in the life of the Church and especially in the world where their fuller, active and authentic participation is requested. This dissertation has been divided into six main sections. Besides the first section which consists of an introduction, the elements of Adult Faith Formation in Parishes are examined separately each in a specific chapter. These elements are Christian Faith itself, Evangelization and Catechesis, How Adults Learn, the necessity of Parish Re-Structuring. The last Chapter proposes concrete solutions of what can and should be done in Parishes to introduce systematic adult education in the faith on a permanent basis. The method of investigation has been mainly one of research in official Church Documents and relevant literature, including also case studies and models. I have not restricted myself to the area of Theology only, but I also researched in the Educational field on the area of Adult Learning; included also relevant life experiences which I have encountered in several years of actually operating in Lay Pastoral activity, and I have also proposed Management Principles and Techniques because I very much believe that the application of this human science is crucial to the effective running of Parishes. Whilst this paper has been mainly addressed to the particular situation of the Parishes in the Diocese of Malta, I believe that the research findings and the proposals made in the last Chapter could be well extended to apply to the areas of Adult Faith Formation and Parishes in other Dioceses of the Universal Church.